A/HRC/43/56 18. South Sudan has also acceded to several international and regional human rights instruments that reaffirm the rights of women and girls to equality and dignity both in times of war and peace. It has acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,290 the United Nations Convention against Torture291 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.292 Is also a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and has signed but not ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo protocol).293 These instruments guarantee equal rights and dignity for both women and men, equality before the law, dignity, prohibition against early and forced marriage and any form of harmful practice and discrimination on the basis of sex or gender. At the domestic level, the laws of South Sudan, including most notably the Transitional Constitution (2011) guarantee the right to equality before the law for all persons. Further, the Child Act (2008) guarantees protection from sexual abuse and exploitation. 294 The Penal Code of South Sudan prohibits rape and abduction of women for the purpose of early marriage or sexual abuse, respectively.295 19. In its General Recommendation 35, the CEDAW Committee concluded that “women’s right to a life free from gender-based violence is indivisible from and interdependent on other human rights, including the rights to life, health, liberty and security of the person, equality and equal protection within the family, freedom from torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, and freedom of expression, movement, participation, assembly and association.”296 The Committee further noted that “States parties are responsible for preventing such acts or omissions by their own organs and agents, including through . . . investigating, prosecuting and applying appropriate legal or disciplinary sanctions, as well as providing reparation, in all cases of gender-based violence against women, including those constituting international crimes, and in cases of failure, negligence or omission on the part of public authorities.” 297 Based on the preceding, the government of South Sudan and armed opposition groups both have an inherent obligation to prevent, investigate and punish sexual and gender related crimes that may be committed by individuals and entities affiliated with either party to the conflict. E. Freedom of expression, opinion and assembly, arbitrary arrest and detention 20. The responsibility of the government to promote and protect democratic space and foster an inclusive political environment, including through freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association is a hallmark of the State’s duty to uphold justice and the rule of law. These violations do not occur because South Sudan lacks a sound legal system or the absence of national and international legal frameworks to prevent and punish them, but rather should be attributed to the on-going and entrenched impunity across state institutions and leadership, which allow those in positions of authority to act in flagrant disregard for the law in the belief that they will not be held accountable for their acts. 21. South Sudan is a party to wide range of regional and international instruments which reaffirm the right to freedom of expression, opinion and assembly. It is a party to the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol which guarantee, among others, the fundamental rights and freedoms for both men 290 Acceded to in 2015. Acceded to in 2015. 292 Acceded to in 2015. 293 Signed in 2013. 294 Section 26, Child Act 2008: “Every female child has a right to be protected from sexual abuse and exploitation and gender-based violence, including rape, incest, early and forced marriage, female circumcision and female genital mutilation”. 295 Sections 247 and 273, respectively. 296 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19. 297 Ibid, para 23. 291 50